The present invention relates to electrical connectors and, more particularly, to electrical connectors having terminal contacts embedded on wafer substrates.
Electrical connectors comprising plugs and receptacles for connecting wires from various devices or sources to other devices have evolved over the years as advances in technology have changed those devices or sources. Different applications have also required new and varied types of connectors. Most notably, with the advent of computers and related peripherals, electrical plugs or connectors have been developed to releasably link the cables or wires necessary to carry and communicate information from one device or source to another device. In some cases, circuit boards, either alone or integral with the device, may be coupled to other circuit boards.
Electrical connectors for the computer industry must now be able to connect a multiplicity of wires from one source or device to another source or device. These connections are now so closely bundled on the plugs or receptacles in order to conserve space, that the connection elements or terminals are very narrowly spaced. Imprecise or misaligned terminals upon connection of the receptacle to the plug may cause misregistration of the contacts.
Such misregistration of the contacts may create an open circuit between the individual contacts or a poor connection therebetween. An open circuit means that no signal can pass between the plugs which would most likely cause a system malfunction or misoperation of the coupled devices. The poor connection may likewise cause a system malfunction or misoperation of the coupled devices.
Generally, such misregistration occurs through misaligned receptacle terminals relative to the plug terminals. The receptacle terminals are usually wires that can become tilted or twisted. The plug has flat terminals embedded on a wafer. It is the misregistration between the receptacle terminals and the plug terminals that can cause the above-noted problems.
The insert molded plug contacts or terminals of the prior art are designed to be at the same level as the plastic wafer substratum on which the contacts or terminals are located. Because of this prior art architecture, misregistration of the receptacle or a slight twist or tilt of the receptacle terminals relative the plug will cause the receptacle terminals to ride up on the substratum between adjacent terminals thereby creating the open circuit or misaligned condition.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an electrical connector that establishes reliable electrical performance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an electrical plug that alleviates open circuit conditions between the terminals of the mating connectors upon slight misalignment of the terminals of the mating receptacle relative to the contacts of the plug.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide an improved terminal carrying wafer substrate that helps alleviate poor electrical contact between a plug and receptacle such as is caused by misregistration of the respective terminals.
The present invention is an electrical plug of the type having a wafer or substratum on which is disposed a multiplicity of terminal contacts. The wafer is insertable into a housing or frame to form the electrical plug. The terminal contacts are disposed on the substratum in a spaced apart adjacent manner.
Between adjacent terminal contacts is a groove or channel in the substratum such that the top surface of the terminal contact is elevated from the top surface of the substratum. The groove may be a modified V shape or otherwise. By making the top surface of the terminal contacts elevated from the surface of the substratum, misregistration of any terminal contact of a received receptacle will still make electrical contact with the terminal contact of the plug by allowing the received terminal contact to extend into the groove, rather than riding up on the surface of the substratum causing an open circuit or poor connection circuit, as it would with the prior art same level design. The groove thus lowers the plug plastic surface below the contact surface.
In the preferred embodiment, the electrical plug includes two wafers each with a multiplicity of terminal contacts. The wafers are disposed parallel to one another in the housing.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the wafer substratum is insert molded about the terminals such that each terminal contact surface is elevated from the substratum surface while being co-planar relative to each other.
The plug or header is especially designed for a line of high-performance, low-crosstalk interconnections in high-speed, digital system applications, known as Micropax(trademark) by Berg Electronics of Camp Hill, Pa. The plug is available in four mounting configurations: straddle-mount, vertical through-mount, surface-mount, and right angle mount. The plug is designed to function as a transmission line along with its mating receptacle, by the geometry of the contacts and their spacing relative to each other, the dielectric substratum, and ground.
Additionally, the contacts of the plug are plated with an exclusive Berg palladium nickel alloy with gold flash (known as Berg GXT(trademark)) for better solderability, porosity, environmental corrosion resistance, and bend ductibility.